Bent Axle Flange or Bad Wheel Bearing

[thecole1098]

Hi all,

I'm looking for opinions on my situation that I've started to notice about 2 months ago, which I believe to be either a bent axle flange or bad wheel bearing or both. My drivers side rear wheel has noticeable wobble when driving and I know for certain it's not the tire or rim as it's visible with even the drum off the car. In addition to the noticeable wobble, I also have a vibration in the rear when driving, however it's not the traditional vibration of that of a wheel out of balance or driveshaft, it's almost a "hopping" feeling that increases with speed. This feeling is amplified when braking, even though all the brakes are new, including turning the drums and rotors.

Below is a video I took today when I had it on the lift where I had the entire drum off and had the vehicle in drive to watch the flange of the axle, and sure enough there's visual movement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NvVvbXfHOY&feature=youtu.be

I could also physically push and pull the flange towards me and the axle housing. I know a very, very slight amount is normal with a new bearing, however this was much more. I compared with the other side which spins with no wobble and has a new bearing. Something else I noticed is that the shoes have an odd wear mark just in the middle, almost as though the drum is scraping over them.

Should I be looking at a junkyard axle and press a new bearing/retainers on and be done? Thanks in advance!

 

[mtbtim]

It's probably just a bad wheel bearing. You'd have to have some significant force to bend the axle.

 

[thecole1098]

Hi Tim thanks for chiming in, it's always appriciated.

Would a wheel bearing have play cause the hopping feeling I'm describing?

 

[mtbtim]

Hi Tim thanks for chiming in, it's always appriciated.

Would a wheel bearing have play cause the hopping feeling I'm describing?

I think the bearing play could cause that. If the axle has gross movement, that means the drum attached to the axle has gross movement. The brake components won't move because they are attached to the backing plate which is bolted to the axle housing. So, if the brake drum has a sort of oscillating moment from the bearing play, it could be causing the drum brake shoes to drag at times causing that hopping feeling. You said you've seen weird wear in the shoes so that's another clue the bearing play could.be causing uneven wear in the brake shoes. Replace the bearing and the problem probably goes away. I guess you'd want to replace those brake shoes though. If you haven't seen the video [MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] made for the rear axle seal job, check it out. It's in the DIY Video thread I started or you can find it on our YouTube channel Timmy the Toolman. I'd send you a link but I'm just operating by cell phone right now and I don't know how to copy and paste with this thing.

 

[thecole1098]

Went ahead and bought the bearing and related parts that will have to be replaced. Most likely going to replace the shoes and turn that drum again while I'm at it. Before I get press happy and destroy my current bearings, I'd like to "properly" check the axle runout with a dial indicator on the flange to know for sure I won't need a new axle. Otherwise, I'm going to waste my time and money throwing all these new parts on a bad axle.

I'll keep this thread updated.

 

[theesotericone]

Before I get press happy and destroy my current bearings, I'd like to "properly" check the axle runout with a dial indicator on the flange to know for sure I won't need a new axle. Otherwise, I'm going to waste my time and money throwing all these new parts on a bad axle.

I'll keep this thread updated.

I figured with your job you'd have access to properly checking the axle tolerance. Like Tim said above, it does take a lot of force to bend an axle but it can and does happen. If it is out of spec a junkyard axle is pretty cheap. From the play in the video it looks like it's bearings but if you just replaced them they should have lasted a long time.

 

[thecole1098]

I figured with your job you'd have access to properly checking the axle tolerance. Like Tim said above, it does take a lot of force to bend an axle but it can and does happen. If it is out of spec a junkyard axle is pretty cheap. From the play in the video it looks like it's bearings but if you just replaced them they should have lasted a long time.

Yeah working at a dealership definitely has its perks :fro:

It does take a lot of force to bend the shaft itself, however thanks to these being semi-floating it doesn't take as much as one might think for the flange to bend. It's just odd because I didn't notice this when I first bought the truck and I haven't slammed into a curb or anything. It may have happened when I was wheeling one day, or perhaps it's just a bearing. I honestly don't know.

And no, I did not do the bearing on the drivers side, just the inner seal (a few times I might add). I did however do everything on the passenger side a few months ago and that side is tighter than a frogs ass.

It doesn't look quite that bad in the video with just the flange moving, however if I had the tire on it is amplified quite a lot, as one might suspect.

 

[theesotericone]

Yeah working at a dealership definitely has its perks :fro:

It does take a lot of force to bend the shaft itself, however thanks to these being semi-floating it doesn't take as much as one might think for the flange to bend. It's just odd because I didn't notice this when I first bought the truck and I haven't slammed into a curb or anything. It may have happened when I was wheeling one day, or perhaps it's just a bearing. I honestly don't know.

And no, I did not do the bearing on the drivers side, just the inner seal (a few times I might add). I did however do everything on the passenger side a few months ago and that side is tighter than a frogs ass.

It doesn't look quite that bad in the video with just the flange moving, however if I had the tire on it is amplified quite a lot, as one might suspect.

Yeah, well if it was easy I'd already have a full float in the front and rear. I need to buy the wife another vehicle before that happens though. lol

 

[HiLife]

Hey op, you mentioned a noticeable wobble in the rear while going down the road.
Were there any noises or pops that the bearings made while in motion and under load?

 

[thecole1098]

Hey op, you mentioned a noticeable wobble in the rear while going down the road.
Were there any noises or pops that the bearings made while in motion and under load?

Not that I could tell, no. Every now and then I do hear a squeal from the back when braking, however. New shoes btw

 

[HiLife]

like to "properly" check the axle runout with a dial indicator on the flange to know for sure I won't need a new axle. Otherwise, I'm going to waste my time and money throwing all these new parts on a bad axle.

I'll keep this thread updated.

I'm curious on where the bend is also and how the bend might have happened. Your doing the right thing by properly troubleshooting the issue and not just throwing parts at it.

 

[thecole1098]

Well I picked up a new axle shaft at my local junkyard as the runout on mine was 30 thousands when spec is 10. Couple hours later I was ready to press the new bearings in. I gently tapped the new wheel bearing inside of the hub with a block of metal to spread the force then I pressed the first retainer in. This is where things started to take a turn. I took the axle out of the press to put the C clip in when I noticed I couldn't turn the backing plate independent of the shaft. I figured I just pressed the retainer too far against the inner race of the bearing, so I installed the clip anyway and drove the retainer towards the C-clip some as there was a gap hoping it would take away pressure of the bearing. It seemed to help a little maybe, however I still couldn't turn it easily. I think I may have ****ed up the new bearing, so I got a new one on shop supply and am going for round two tomorrow. This time I won't be so press happy and just press the first retainer enough so that its just past the C-clip groove.

Is my train of thought of messing the bearing up by pressing the retainer against it too much make sense?

 

[thecole1098]

Just following up on this.

Well I'm PISSED to say the least. I was finally able to put everything back together earlier today and the wobble is even worse than it ever was :wtf:.

I'm gonna attempt to take the junkyard axle back and hopefully get my money back, but that's being hopeful. Perhaps the issue all along was just a bad bearing on what is possibly a good axle that I was using. I could cut off the abs ring and inner bearing retainer and press off the one against the bearing and transfer that new bearing onto my other axle and just hope it was the bearing that was the fault all along. Or maybe I should try and find another axle at a different junkyard. Problem with that is most places don't sell just the axles; they want to sell the entire damn 3rd member and most don't have any that is 4.30 gears w/ elocker.

Advice?

 

[4Reak Show]

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-630-500

 

[Metalbanger71]

What happened with bearing issue?

Just wanted to know what the problem was with your wheel wobble. Having same issue with my 02 Tundra. Pulled the axle and found quite a lot of play in bearing. My wheel did take a curb shot though. Thinking I have a bent axle but would like to know what you found with your issue. Thanks.